When you sign in to Office 365, or your organization’s corporate SharePoint Server site, click SharePoint or Sites in the app launcher navigation or top bar. These are your entry points into SharePoint.

SharePoint Online

You can also click SharePoint on the header bar

SharePoint Server 2016

SharePoint Server 2013

What's in a SharePoint site

Organizations use SharePoint to create websites. In Office 365, you can create a site from the SharePoint home page. You also get a SharePoint team site whenever you create an Office 365 group in Outlook Online or Office 365. If you're in SharePoint Server, you can create a team or a number of other types of sites. You can use the sites as a secure place to store, organize, share, and access information from any device. All you need is a web browser, such as Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, or Mozilla Firefox. Get the SharePoint mobile app to stay connected from your mobile devices.

10 things you can do with SharePoint, right now

To do this…

Try this…

Upload files to your SharePoint document library, so you can access them from anywhere

You can drag files from your computer into your document library,.

In SharePoint Online, click Upload on the command bar. If you use Microsoft Edge, you can upload either files or folders.

SharePoint Online

SharePoint Server 2016

In SharePoint Server 2013, click New document and browse for a file. Depending on how SharePoint is configured, you may have to click Upload existing file first.

Click to open the document you want to work on and it will open in Office Online. If you have the application installed on your computer and want to use it, click Edit Document > Edit in <application name>. For info on document libraries, see What is a document library?

Work with others on the same document, at the same time

In a document library, click to open the document you want to work on. It will open in Office Online. The number of people currently editing the document appears at the top right of the document.

If you're using Office 365, you can create a site from the SharePoint home page, and it automatically creates an Office 365 group. If you create an Office 365 group in Outlook or People, and you automatically get a team site in SharePoint Online. For more on creating team sites, see Create a team site in SharePoint Online.

If you have site owner permissions with SharePoint Server 2016 or SharePoint Server 2013 click Sites, and then click + new site or + new.

Add a list or library to your team site

To add a list or library to SharePoint Online, click + New from within a site, and then pick List or Library from the list.

To add a list or library for SharePoint Server versions of SharePoint click Settings
and then click Add an app.

In SharePoint Online, right-click a document in a library, and then click Version History (you might have to scroll the menu),

For SharePoint Server versions, click the ellipses (...) next to the file, and then click the ellipses (...) again in the dialog to get to the menu, or select the document and click Version History on the Files tab.

Getting your SharePoint library into an Explorer view can provide a fast way to do all file operations. You can do it essentially two ways, syncing the folders, or opening in Explorer. The difference is that synced folders persist and can be used anytime from any app, while Open in Explorer is a one-time operation.

Another way to use Windows Explorer to manipulate files is to open a library in Explorer. Like synced folders, ths allows you to copy, move, and edit files and folders the way do on your desktop. Files are automatically updated in your SharePoint library. For more info, see Ways to work with site library files in File Explorer.

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Updated April 3, 2017 thanks to customer feedback.

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